Prime Minister comments on Threatened Sanctions from G20 countries
Prime Minister Dean Barrow
The headlines in the international media are dramatic: Belize faces prospect of G-20 sanctions over tax information. The reason for the threatened sanctions, according to the international reports, is because Belize has failed to abide by international tax information sharing protocols. It is a legitimate concern, especially for the government of Prime Minister Dean Barrow as he enters the third year of his administration this week. And so when we telephoned him in his Belmopan office for a comment this evening, he was not a happy man. Mr. Barrow told Love News that he is completely dissatisfied with the way the whole issue of the so-called offshore tax havens has been treated by the developed world.
Prime Minister Dean Barrow: “Our financial services efforts are a means of trying to diversify at trying to diversify. At a time of a global recession when these people are doing nothing to help us to try to put pressure on us to try to cut off; throttle a legitimate means of economic diversification I think is thoroughly outrageous. That having been said they have the power and we have tried as small countries to get together and to lobby them, and to petition them and to scream at them; it has gotten us no where so we clearly have to comply. Belize is in the process of complying, we have already signed three of the tax information exchange agreements. I believe the magic number is 12. We have seven lined up and two more lined up with two of the Dutch speaking Caribbean countries. We are confident that we will meet the threshold and the deadline in order to avoid the imposition of the sanctions.”
Patrick Jones, Reporter
At this juncture though is there anything that we can do to save off any sanctions?
Prime Minister Dean Barrow
“All you have to do is meet the deadline. You have until March and you see what it is they require you sign a number of these tax information exchange agreements: twelve. I am saying we have already signed three and nine are in the pipeline and in the pipeline in a fashion that ought to see us complete the signing of that additional nine agreements before the deadlines for the sanction in fact materializes. Again, I just want to make the point that they tell you to sign these twelve TIA’s as they are called Tax Information Exchange Agreement but you have to then turn around and go and beg people to sign with you. The OECD countries which are pressuring you to sign these agreements do not say and look we have a list of our members lined up for you. Here is the model of our agreement; you are willing to sign we will get members; no, no, no. They tell you sign and if you do not you will be sanctioned so you don’t sign at your pert. But in order for you to sign you must go out there and beg people to give you a chance; it is horribly unfair and I need to put that on record. But anyway we are doing it.”
Patrick Jones, Reporter
Alright, so Belize is safe and we will not face the prospect of any sanctions?
Prime Minister Dean Barrow
“Not if I can help it. I am saying that in fact in fact we have the relevant requisite number of countries lined up so we are on track to avoid the sanctions.”
Patrick Jones, Reporter
So, this report in the guardian is much ado about nothing?
Prime Minister Dean Barrow
“No, it is legitimate in the sense that if we do not sign the requisite number of the PIES we would face the sanctions. All I am saying is that we will sign the number and so we will avoid then the prospect of the sanctions.”
The G-20 finance ministers are scheduled to meet this month in South Korea and press reports are that it could include the introduction of sanctions on countries which have not abided by an initiative from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development to force tax havens to sign information-sharing agreements.
Source: LoveFM.com
